Trigger Warning: This article contains gruesome details of murder, violence and death, which could be triggering for some readers.
Director Andrew Jarecki’s groundbreaking discovery in the final interview of The Jinx bolstered the conviction and arrest of murderer and real estate scion Robert Durst in 2015. The epic documentary is returning to true crime aficionados as HBO announced the premiere of The Jinx Part Two on April 21, Sunday.
The second installment will follow the next eight years of Robert Durst’s life after conviction with new witness interviews and unseen footage, adding depth to the narrative of the three murders he was linked to since 1982. The continuation of Robert Durst’s disturbing story of violence, murder, and mystery was teased in an official trailer by HBO on April 10.
What did Robert Durst do?
Son of a real estate tycoon, Robert Durst’s life spiraled from business to murder suspicion after his first wife, Kathleen McCormack went missing in 1982. Kathie, 29, disappeared after a brief visit to her friend, Gilbert Najamy’s house in Newtown, Connecticut on 31 January 1982. Najamy appeared in an interview for The Jinx detailing the day of her disappearance and revealed that Kathie abruptly left for home to New York after a call from Durst.
However, Durst claimed that he had dropped Kathie to the station that night as she had a class for her final year of medical school the next day. Najamy never heard from her again and reported her disappearance to the police whereas Durst didn’t bother to go to the police for weeks. Najamy disclosed in The Jinx that Kathie left with an alarming message. “Promise me if something happens, you’ll check it out,” Najamy recalled in the interview. Kathie McCormack’s body was never found.
On 24 December 2000, the police found Durst’s close friend, Susan Berman shot dead in her apartment. Once again, Durst was the prime suspect as investigators later deduced that Berman had helped him by faking as Kathie to call in sick to her medical school. It was speculated that Berman, the daughter of organized crime figure David Berman, was blackmailing Durst which motivated him to kill her.
The third murder before Durst’s conviction was of his Texas neighbor, Morris Black, 71, in September 2001. The real estate heir had moved to Galveston Bay, Texas, disguised as a mute woman, Dorothy Ciner in April of that year. He developed a good bond with Black, who was later found dead in Galveston Bay. His body was brutally dismembered. The incident led to Durst’s arrest in October 2001 but was released on a bail of $250,000 the very next day.
Later on, Durst confessed to dismembering Black’s body in self-defense after the latter allegedly pointed a gun at him accusing him of stealing food from his oven. Since his body would be too heavy to carry out, Durst used Black’s tools to dispose of the body. He justified not going to the police as none would believe his side of the story leaving him with more trouble. He was sentenced to five years in prison and stayed there until March 2006.
The Jinx confession that solved it all
More than a decade later, the families of the deceased finally got justice after Robert Durst was convicted of Kathleen McCormack and Susan Berman’s murders in September 2021. He was acquitted of Morris Black’s killing by a Texas jury.
The Jinx director Andrew Jarecki was the mastermind behind his conviction, although fate played a big role. The bottom line was that Robert Durst unknowingly confessed to all three murders in the bathroom during an interview for The Jinx, unaware that his attached mic was on.
Durst appeared in the 2015 HBO documentary series following his personal interest after being impressed by Jarecki’s All Good Things which starred Ryan Gosling. After the director was handed over a letter written to Susan Berman from Durst by her stepson, Jarecki drew a comparison with another suspicious letter sent to Berman’s home after her death. Both had the same typo and similar handwriting of “Beverley Hills.”
When the producers confronted Durst about it on camera, he was shaken. Durst asked to go the bathroom and confessed into his hot mic, “There it is, you’re caught. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
Nevertheless, the filmmakers revealed they didn’t discover the confession audio until two years after it was recorded. Before The Jinx’s last episode aired on HBO, Durst was convicted and arrested for the murders of Berman and McCormack. He was sentenced to life in prison. Robert Durst died in prison on 10 January 2022 at the age of 78.
The Jinx Part Two will unravel into Durst’s life after conviction, arrest, and eventual death. It is available to stream on HBO and Max.
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